Toshiba Tips More Details of 0.8-Inch Hard Drive

Toshiba offered reporters a sneak peek at its 0.8-inch hard drive Wednesday night, but said it would keep several key details under wraps until the product is tuned and launched.

LAS VEGASToshiba Ltd. offered reporters a sneak peek at its 0.8-inch hard drive Wednesday night, but said it would keep several key details under wraps until the product is tuned and launched.
The 0.8-inch drive is slightly smaller than the 1-inch Microdrives, or the stripped-down "storage elements" that Cornice manufactures. Toshiba will ship two versions: a single platter, two-head 4GB version and a 2GB model with a single read/write head.

Theoretically, the smaller disk platter requires less power to spin, as its mass is less than the larger drives. Lower power, of course, means longer battery life. However, the actual power consumption of the drive will not be known until later this year, when the drive is officially released, said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing for Toshibas Storage Device Division. However, the 3,300-RPM drives will use a 3.3-volt operating voltage.

Brzeski and Toshiba had only prototypes of the drive to show at the Consumer Electronics Show here.
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